


The War of the Cockblock

by Hawtsee



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-09 17:03:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6915706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawtsee/pseuds/Hawtsee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Madge and Gale have never liked each other, but now it's all out war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The War of the Cockblock

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jennycaakes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennycaakes/gifts).



> Happy birthday to the queen of gadge, Jenn.

**ONE**

Gale Hawthorne is leaning against the bar; his olive skin even more tanned than usual, t-shirt displaying his toned body, dark hair shorter than the last time she saw him. He’s chatting to the cute blonde from the bank, but he notices Madge Undersee the moment she walks in the door. He nods at her, tips his beer and smiles.

His grey eyes never leave her as she crosses the room to him. She can feel their focus, like a laser on her skin.

“Undersee,” he says in that casual way of his.

“Hawthorne,” she returns.

They stare at each other in silence for a moment, before Madge flicks her gaze to the woman beside him. The pretty teller is watching them with interest.

“Try not to get this one pregnant too,” Madge says. “Three kids in two years would be really too many.”

She walks away before Gale can react; furious at herself for not being able to rise above it, and even more furious at him for provoking such a reaction from her. Madge hasn’t seen Gale in a year, but she had promised herself she would be the mature one when they next had their meeting. So much for that.

Nobody knows what started the feud between her and Gale. It’s just something that always existed. They hate each other, and though they both have a long list of reasons to justify it, neither of them can put a finger on what caused it.

Madge resolves to avoid Gale for the rest of the night. As their large group of friends are celebrating Gale’s return from his tour in Afghanistan, that means she’s mostly alone. Which is fine by her, because tonight she’s on the hunt.

It takes a couple of tries before she finds a satisfactory candidate. Rob is not the brightest crayon in the box, but she’s not really interested in his opinions on the global economy anyway. He’s cute and buff and that’s all she wants.

Things are just getting interesting, she’s about to suggest they go back to her place when she feels an arm slide around her waist.

“Hi, baby,” Gale drawls, placing a kiss on her forehead. “Sorry I’m late.” He pins his gaze on Rob. “Thanks for keeping my girl company.”

Madge elbows him in the stomach and turns to Rob, but he’s already standing up and backing away.

“Sorry, dude, I didn’t know she was taken.”

Madge’s mouth, open to tell him to ignore Gale, snaps shut. If that’s his attitude, then she wants nothing to do with him.

Gale slides onto Rob’s vacated seat and smirks.

“I guess I deserved that,” Madge admits.

“You really did. Most people would have just said ‘welcome home’ and let me enjoy my didn’t-die-in-Afghanistan celebratory bang.”

Madge laughs. “Can I buy you a didn’t-die-in-Afghanistan beer instead?” She gestures to Johanna behind the bar for two beers.

She sits back in her seat and looks him over. He’s more toned and muscled than he was a year ago, but his face looks older and he looks tired.

Feeling her eyes on him, he turns and grins cockily. “Did you miss me?”

Madge scoffs. “Like genital warts.”

Gale laughs. “I’m glad I know you, Madge. It will be good to have somebody around to remind me what it’s like to face people who hate me, for when I start missing Afghanistan.”

“You’ll miss it? You’re not going back though, right? I thought you were finished.” Not that she cares, but it’s polite to ask.

He shrugs. “I could re-enlist, if I wanted. But I really can’t see that happening.”

Madge looks away from him, to find Jo watching them with a half-amused, half exasperated expression on her face. “What?”

“Will you two just fucking fuck already!” Jo says, slamming their beers down on the counter in front of them.

Gale blinks in surprise and picks up his drink. “I’d rather the genital warts. Thanks for the drink.”

Madge watches him go, then quickly averts her gaze when she realizes, in case anybody gets the wrong idea.

Johanna rolls her eyes.

 

**TWO**

 

“That poor girl; what kind of bullshit did he have to spin to get her to go out with him?”

Annie laughs. “He’s a great guy, he’s hot. Plus, now he’s training to be a firefighter so he’s got the whole sexy uniform thing going for him. Is it possible that she might actually be attracted to him?”

Madge scoffs. OK, so maybe he does fit the conventional western standard for physical beauty. In every way possible. And now he’s been home for a few weeks, he’s looking rested and healthy. Still, that’s no excuse for the girl he’s with to plaster herself to him. It’s enough to put Madge off her drink.

The conversation moves on, but Madge barely listens. She watches as Gale and the girl he’s with engage in some tonsil hockey. Ugh, get a room. Nobody wants to see that.

As Gale grabs the woman’s ass, Madge slams her drink down. “I’m going to the restroom.” She can’t take any more it.

In the privacy of the restroom, she seethes. She’s pissed off now and can’t explain why. Tiredness, maybe. It’s been a long day. Finding a pair of shoes for Katniss to wear to Annie’s wedding was an ordeal. She’s not in the mood for hanging out in a loud bar and getting drunk. She just wants to go home.

But first, she needs to pee.

When she emerges from the stall, there’s a woman fixing her make-up in front of the mirrors. It’s Gale’s date. Madge freezes for a moment, then takes her place at the sink to wash her hands. She watches the girl from the corner of her eyes.

Happy with her make-up, the girl grins at her own reflection. She crosses to the machine on the wall, and buys a pack of condoms. When she turns she finds Madge staring at her. “What?”

Madge looks away instantly. “Nothing.”

“No, it looks like you’ve got something to say,” the girls says, standing in front of Madge with her hands on her hips.

It’s not that Madge intended to say anything, but now that she’s on the spot it comes pouring out. “Look, it’s none of my business. You have condoms, and it’s been six months so it’s probably safe. Just because I’d never sleep with that jackass again, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.”

The girl frowns. “Are you talking about Gale Hawthorne?” What do you mean?”

Madge sighs. “I’m sure he’s learned his lesson.”

“What lesson? What are you talking about?”

“Just make sure to use the condoms, because he will try to get away with not wearing one. I guess it’s my own fault for letting him away with it, just because I fell for his bullshit.”

The girl pales. “And you caught something?”

“Yes,” Madge nods solemnly. “Gonorrhea is a bitch. It still burns when I pee. He had it longer than me, so it’s probably cleared up. It’s been six months.” Then she makes a show of counting to five on her fingers. She frowns and counts again. Five. “Um… Just use the condoms.”

She pretends not to notice how distraught the girl looks. It’s for her own good. “Enjoy your night.”

Madge saunters back out to her friends. “Who wants another round?”

Thirty minutes later, Gale Hawthorne storms over to her. “What did you do?”

“What?” Madge blinks innocently.

“I know you said something to Sophia.”

“Who?” she says, her eyes wide.

Gale glowers at her. “I’ll get you back for this.”

Madge laughs. “Bring it on.”

 

-*-

The next time she sees Gale, he’s hitting on another pretty blonde at the bar. He smirks when he sees Madge walking in, raises an eyebrow in challenge.

She ignores him, gets a drink for herself and joins her friends.

Gale seems surprised, even a little disappointed; every time she looks up, he’s looking her way. Madge pretends not to notice. It’s almost as if he wants her to do something.

She waits, lets him get comfortable.

Gale lets his guard down, he stops watching for an attack and focuses his attention on the blonde. They’ve moved to a booth now, and are getting very touchy-feely. That’s when Madge decides to pounce.

She saunters over Gale, he’s too busy making out with his new companion to notice her approach. He doesn’t notice her at all, until she’s standing right in front of them. “You bastard,” she hisses.

The pair spring apart. Gale looks momentarily confused, but then he smirks again.

“You told me you had to work late tonight. I made you dinner, went by the station house to take it to you. They laughed at me, you know. ‘Gale never works late,’ they told me.” Madge makes her voice crack, pretends to wipe away tears. “All those times, I waited at home for you and you were here cheating on me. On my birthday.”

They stare at her for a long moment after her tirade has ended. Then Gale turns to his companion. “See what I mean, completely fucking psycho,” he says, waving his hand at Madge.

The girl shakes her head in disbelief. “Wow. You weren’t kidding.”

Gale sits back in the booth, stretching his arm out along the back of it and grins at Madge. Is that all you got?

Madge drops the crying act. She should have known he was ready for her attack. But that didn’t mean she was done. There was no way she was losing this one. “What do you mean by psycho?” She shrieks, causing most people in the bar to look at her. She doesn’t care; the bigger the scene the better. “That is such patriarchal bullshit. Wow, a woman’s feelings are making you feel uncomfortable so you immediately dismiss us as crazy to delegitimize our arguments and pretend you’re the rational one.”

“You’re right,” Gale says dryly. “You’re totally acting rationally now.”

In a fit of fury, Madge grabs his half-empty glass and throws the contents in his face.

Gale’s smirk disappears and he looks pissed now. The girl jumps back, cursing indignantly and wiping beer from her face.

“OK, that’s it. All of you, out of here,” a loud voice bellows from behind Madge. She’s grabbed roughly and half-pushed, half-carried out the door by a burly bouncer.

Two more bouncers follow them out, dragging Gale and his date with them. They’re protesting, but the bouncers are not for turning.

“Nice one, Madge,” Gale growls at her, before turning to the other girl and reaching for her. “I’ll give you a ride home.”

The girl steps away from him, and shakes her head. “No, thank you. I don’t know what game you two are playing, but I don’t want any part of it.” She throws them both a dirty look, then stomps away, her heels clicking angrily on the sidewalk.

Gale glares at Madge, his hands on his hips and his breathing harsh. “Now, it’s war.”

 

**THREE**

Madge and her mother have a long-standing tradition of having afternoon tea together at the Panem Inn one or two Sundays a month. It’s a little dull, but the cakes are good and it gets her mother out of the house so Madge doesn’t mind.

She hadn’t been looking forward to it today, still a little hungover from the night before. But three minutes after they had sit down, the most beautiful woman Madge has ever seen sits on a couch behind her mother and makes eye contact.

They spend the next hour eye-flirting as Madge’s mother prattles on about redecorating the dining room... or something. Madge barely hears a word.

When tea is finished, Madge walks her mother to her car then hurries back inside the hotel to reclaim the jacket she has ‘forgotten’.

She slips it on, and flips her hair casually, then turns to leave. She makes eye contact with the beauty again.

The woman smiles and gestures for Madge to join her on the couch. “Please join me, I’m Yolande. Can I buy you a drink?”

“Thank you, I’m Madison,” Madge says. She very rarely gives her real name to people, much preferring Madge. But she can’t imagine glamorous, elegant Yolande being very impressed with a ‘Madge’.

The order a glass of red wine each and sink into the couches as they get to know each other. Yolande trains people in how to deal with aggressive customers, she travels a lot for her job and she’s even more gorgeous up close.

After about an hour of flirting on the couch, Yolande suggests they get something to eat. “The bar seems pretty busy, how about we get room service instead?”

Madge excuses herself to go to the restroom before they head upstairs. She freshens up her makeup, brushes her hair and fixes her clothes.

When she returns to the lobby, Yolande is no longer sitting on the couch. She’s gone, and in her place is Gale Hawthorne. He’s holding a wine glass, and wearing the smuggest look Madge has ever seen on a person.

She feels completely blindsided. She has never even seen Gale at the inn before. The thought that he would show up to run cliterference had never even dawned on her. “Where’s Yolande? What did you say to her?” She stomps her foot. “How did even know I was here?”

Gale laughs. “First rule of war, know your enemy.” He twirls the wine glass in his hand before finishing off the last mouthful. Then he stands and winks at her. “Well, this was fun.”

He leaves Madge to fume.

-*-

Madge presses hard on the buzzer for Fulvia Cardew’s apartment, and waits with barely contained rage until Fulvia’s cheerful voice answers. “Hi, Madge.”

“Can you buzz me in, I need to kill Gale Hawthorne.”

“Oh. OK, but call down to me when you’re finished.”

The door opens, and Madge stomps furiously up the four flights of stairs to the top floor where Gale lives. She pounds on his door, but there’s no answer. After pressing her ear to the door to confirm there’s no movement inside, Madge stomps back down the stairs to Fulvia’s apartment on the third floor.

“So, why do you want to kill Gale?” Fulvia asks as they curl up on the couch with beers.

“Because of this.” Madge fishes her phone from her bag, pulls up Facebook and shows Fulvia the post that set her off. Yolande, the hot girl from the Panem Inn had posted about her trip to District 12, including her encounter with a hot, blonde, fake lesbian prostitute called Madison. Somebody had shared it with on the page for a local LGBT group, which is how Madge had found it. “Gale told her that I’m a prostitute and now it’s all over Facebook.”

“Oh my god, I saw that. That’s you?” Fulvia quickly smothers a laugh.

“It’s not funny,” Madge snaps. “People will think I’m a hooker.”

“There’s worse things,” Fulvia says. “Madge, I don’t think you have anything to worry about though. Cress and I read that post yesterday and neither of us thought it was you. How many people even know that’s your real name? I knew, and I didn’t even put it together.”

“I’m still going to kill him,” Madge spits. “She was Kerry Washington hot, and he ruined it for me.”

Fulvia looks away, biting her lip.

“What?”

“I mean, you started it. And you escalated it. He was just returning fire.”

“Who’s side are you on?” Madge asks angrily.

Fulvia rolls her eyes. “Nobody’s. You're both my friends. Why can’t you just let this go and do like it like normal people?”

“What does that mean?”

Fulvia is saved from having to answer when the door opens and Cressida walks in. She greets her girlfriend with a kiss then turns to Madge. “Hey, what brings you by?”

“Murder,” Fulvia giggles.

“OK. Sure. Whose?”

“Gale Hawthorne. He wasn’t home though.”

Cressida grins. “He is now. I just talked to him.”

Most of the heat is gone from Madge’s anger now, despite not wanting to admit that maybe Fulvia has a point. She resolves to let this one go.

“Well, actually. He’s just popped out,” Cressida continues. “I met him going down the stairs, he wanted to know if we had any condoms. Seemed to be in a bad way. He’s probably gone to the store on the corner for them.”

“So he must have a girl up there,” Madge guesses. Maybe she’s not as angry as she was when she first got here, but this a golden opportunity that she simply cannot let slide. She jumps up and paces the room frantically. “OK, what do I do? Quick, what do I do?”

Her two friends stare at her, but it doesn’t matter because Madge has an idea. She grabs a basketball from the floor and sticks it under her dress. “Do I look pregnant?”

“Madge,” Fulvia calls, but it’s too late. Madge is already out the door.

She hurries up the stairs and knocks on Gale’s door. Then once again with more urgency.

When she hears someone approaching, she clutches her belly and breathes heavily.

The moment the door opens, Madge collapses against the door jamb, making sure that the pretty redhead won’t be able to close it again. “Is Gale here,” she pants.

“Um, no, he’ll be back in a minute. Can I help you?”

“Could I just sit down? Four flights of stairs is too much when you’re eight months pregnant.”

The woman eyes Madge’s bump, and stands back to let her in. “Are you OK? Can I get you anything?”

“A glass of water, please?” Madge says, huffing and puffing as she lowers herself into the couch. She’s way overdoing it, but the woman doesn’t notice. She’s watching Madge as if she expects her to give birth right there.

There’s a bottle of wine and two glasses on the coffee table, the lights are lowered and music playing softly. “Am I interrupting a date? Gosh, I’m so sorry. I thought pregnancy brain was supposed to only affect the mommy. I bet he completely forgot I was coming over tonight to discuss my birth plan.””

“It’s fine,” the woman assures her. She hands Madge a glass of water and sits on a chair opposite her. “Gale will be back in a minute, he just popped out for….” her voice trails off as she stares at Madge’s belly. “Is that Gale’s baby.”

“Babies,” Madge says. She rubs her hands over the ball. “He didn’t tell you we’re having twins?”

The woman shakes her head. “No. He never mentioned you at all.” She sounds annoyed. “I’ll get out of here and let you two discuss whatever you need to discuss.”

“I’m sorry to ruin your evening,” Madge says. “I’d go, except I’m kind of on a deadline here.” She rubs the ball again for emphasis.

The woman pulls on her jacket and grabs her purse and heads out. When the door opens, Madge hears Gale’s voice, but doesn’t catch the words.

Madge sits back in the couch and waits for him to come in, a triumphant expression on her face.

A minute later Gale enters the living room. When he sees her, his expression changes from confused, to pissed off. Madge raises her chin defiantly and meets his eyes.

Then slowly, a grin spreads across Gale’s face. He tries to hold it back, but he can’t contain the laugh. “What have you got under there?”

“A basketball.”

Gale shakes his head. He turns on the lights and gathers the wine and glasses to put them away. “How did you even know?”

“Lucky coincidence, I came over here to kill you because you told that woman last Sunday that I’m a prostitute.”

“In fairness, you deserved it,” Gale says. He comes back into the living room carrying two bottles of beer. He hands her one before lowering himself onto the other end of the couch. “That girl you told I had crabs or whatever; I work with her sister. She told everyone at work. I’ve had to endure so much shit for that.”

Madge winces. “Sorry.”

“Sure,” Gale laughs. “You know, that woman was more pissed off at the fact that you also sleep with guys than she was about you being a hooker.”

“Oh. OK then, good riddance,” Madge snorts. She pulls out her phone again and reads the comments about her being a ‘fake lesbian’ with a new perspective. She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. I guess you did me a favor.”

“Shit, I didn’t mean to.”

They lapse into comfortable silence, sipping their beer. Madge taps a tune out on the ball still tucked under her dress. Gale watches her for a few minutes, then suddenly pulls out his phone and takes a picture.

“What are you doing?” Madge asks.

“Taking pictures. For when you run for congress or whatever; I’ll sell pictures of you drinking beer while eight months pregnant. Smile.”

Madge flips him the bird as he snaps another picture.

 

**FOUR**

Madge checks her phone for the seventeenth time in five minutes; Katniss and Annie are late and she’s stuck at the bar being hit on by an utter creep. Normally, she would just walk away but this Cato guy unsettles her and she doesn’t want to set him off the way an outright rejection probably would.

“Let me buy you a drink,” he says, grabbing her hand.

She gives him a tight smile and carefully extracts her hand. “No, thank you.”

The door to the bar opens and Madge looks to see who came in, praying it’s her friends. It’s not Annie and Katniss, but it’s almost as good. She’s never been so happy to see Gale Hawthorne.

He smirks at her when he sees her in the company of a guy. Madge makes sure the creep isn’t looking, then frantically waves Gale over and mouths ‘help’.

Gale approaches them immediately. “Madge, what the hell are you doing here,” he says. “You should not be here.” He turns to Cato. “Sir, this girl is seventeen years old. She’s still in high school.”

Madge hops off the stool she’s sitting on, and wraps her hand around Gale’s arm. She doesn’t care what he says, she just wants to get away from Cato.

“I’m going to have to tell your parents about-” Gale stops and turns to Cato. “What did you just say.”

“I said she’s legal.”

Madge and Gale stare at him. “What?”

“Seventeen is legal in this state. Sit down baby, you don’t have to go anywhere.”

“It’s illegal for her to have alcohol, have you bought her drink?” Gale roars. He grabs the guy and hauls him off the stool. “She’s a kid. Get the fuck out of here before I call the police.”

“Fuck you,” Cato swears, but he leaves anyway.

Madge waits until he’s gone before she relinquishes her hold on Gale’s arm. She reaches into her purse for some Purell, and rubs it anywhere Cato had touched her.

“Are you alright?” Gale asks.

“Yes, just majorly grossed out.” She smiles at him. “I guess you have your uses; thank you.”

Gale steps away and she grabs his arm again. “Can you… can you stay, please? Just until the girls get here.”

“Of course,” Gale says, and takes the seat Cato had recently vacated.

 

**FIVE**

 

“Are you and Gale going to hook up tonight?”

Madge is surprised by the question that all she can do is blink at Annie. Everybody had commented at how calm and relaxed Annie had been in the run up to her wedding to Finnick. Apparently, they had all be wrong because Annie has clearly suffered some kind of mental breakdown.

“What? No!” Madge gasps at last. “No. Of course not. No. Where did you get a crazy idea like that? No. Just. No. That would never happen. No. No.”

Annie holds up her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Alright, just checking. In that case, Finnick has a hot cousin who I think is perfect for you.”

“Great, introduce me to the hot cousin, please.”

“She’s over here,” Annie says. She slips her lace-clad arm through Madge’s and guides her around the dance floor.

“You know, just because Gale and I can sometimes tolerate each other’s presence does not mean we don’t absolutely loathe each other,” Madge says.

“Right.”

“He can be OK, sometimes, when he forgets to be an asshole. But I still hate him the majority of the time.”

“Sure.”

Madge sees Gale across the room, talking to Annie’s college friend Vivan. She grudgingly has to admit that he looks very handsome in his suit. “Just because I can see, objectively, that he’s attractive doesn’t mean that I find him attractive.”

“OK.” They stop beside a group of Odair relatives standing around together. Annie touches the arm of a petite, bronze haired woman who turns and smiles at them. “Madge, this is Daisy. Daisy, Madge. Have fun, I’m going to find my husband.”

Madge sits and talks to Daisy, who is smart and funny and cute. But she can’t concentrate, because she’s still seething over Annie’s words. It doesn’t help that Gale is her line of sight, dancing with Vivian.

“Is he an ex?” Vivian asks, drawing Madge’s attention back to her. “That guy you keep looking at?”

“No.” Why do people keep thinking there’s something going on between her and Gale? “No, I just hate him.”

“Well, it looks like he’s leaving now, so you can forget about him.”

Madge looks back in Gale’s direction, just in time to see him leave the room holding Vivian’s hand.

“Do you want to dance?” Daisy asks. She stands and holds her hand out to Madge and pulls her to her feet.

“I just need to change my shoes,” Madge says. “These heels are killing me. I’ll be right back.” She leaves Daisy standing on the edge of the dance floor and makes her way to the third floor, slipping her heels off in the elevator.

Her route takes her past Gale’s room, and it’s not that she intends to stop, but she hears a sound. A distinctly carnal sound.

Madge is already knocking on the door before she even realizes it. “Fornication is a sin,” she says in her best old woman voice. There’s silence in the room. “God is watching you. He sees everything. You’re going to hell.”

She hears the sound of a bed creaking and footsteps so she flees. She dashes around the corner and into the little room with the ice machine and ducks behind the door. From her hiding spot, she hears a door open and a moment later it closes again. She waits with bated breath, then slowly peers out to make sure that Gale isn’t lying in wait in the corridor.

The coast is clear, so Madge scampers to her room and grabs her flats. She’s about to leave when a moment of inspiration strikes, so she checks the drawers in the night stand. Sure enough there’s a bible in one. “Thank you, Gideons.”

Outside Gale’s room, she presses her ear to the door. She can hear voices murmuring inside. Then a feminine giggle and a man’s groan. She knocks sharply. “Your knees are for praying on,” she calls out. Then she drops the bible on the ground and legs it to the elevator.

Back in the ballroom, Daisy is deep in conversation with another girl and turns away when she sees Madge. So, Madge finds a seat beside Katniss and Peeta and chats to them. A few minutes later, Gale drops into the chair beside her and glares at her. Madge makes her most guileless face.

Katniss pulls Peeta out onto the floor for a dance, leaving Madge and Gale alone. They eye each other in silence, until Madge breaks. “Where’s Vivian?” she enquires innocently.

“A confessional box probably,” Gale says dryly.

Madge snorts. She watches the dancers for a while, sees Daisy grinding against the woman she’d been talking to earlier. “If it makes you feel any better, I clam jammed myself too.”

“It does,” Gale admits. He stands up and pulls her to her feet. “Come on. It’s my turn.”

She lets him pull her to the dance floor. “Your turn to do what?”

Gale slips his arms around her waist and pulls her close then begins swaying to the music. “I’m getting in a preemptive cockblock, making people think you’re spoken for. There’s still a few here who haven’t hooked up with anybody yet; a few more drinks and you might start looking attractive to them.”

Madge slaps his arm and gestures to her bridesmaid’s dress. “Fuck you, I look super hot today.”

“You clean up well, I guess,” he says. He twirls her out and then pulls her back towards him. “It’s a pretty dress.”

“Thank you.” Madge plays with the collar of his shirt. “You look OK too.”

Gale laughs and grabs her ass. She squeaks indignantly. “Just making sure nobody gets ideas about cutting in.”

 

**SIX**

Madge twirls a curl around her finger and tries to look interested in whatever it is that Luke is blathering on about. She tuned him out ages ago. Normally, she would have cut out long ago, but Gale is lurking around the bar and she wants to see what he’ll pull this time.

She wishes he would hurry up.

He doesn’t seem to be in any rush. He’s standing at the far end of the bar, talking to some of his buddies from the fire house. His gaze keeps drifting towards her and he smirks whenever he catches her looking his way.

Deciding it’s time to move things along, Madge laughs loudly and tosses her hair back before leaning forward to brush Luke’s arm. He looks at her strangely.

Right on cue, Gale appears at her elbow.

“Hi Gale, what’s up?” Madge asks. He cups her face with his large hands and moves closer to her. “What are you doing?”

“Something I should have done a long time ago,” he says. She has a nano-second to register how long his eyelashes are, and then his lips are on hers. It’s loud in the bar, but she swears she can hear the sound of his heart beating. His tongue caresses her lips and she parts them, sighing against his mouth.

Then just as quickly as he kissed her, he stops. His hands remain on her face, she can feel his calloused fingers like silk against her skin. He’s breathing hard, his eyes are unfocused.

Gale drops his hands and steps back, his eyes still locked on hers. He looks as stunned as she feels. “I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean… that wasn’t…. I’m sorry. “ Then he turns abruptly and walks quickly out of the bar.

Madge brings her fingers to her burning lips.

 

**SEVEN**

Madge isn’t expecting to see Gale sitting in her favorite coffee shop. She’s never seen him here before, he doesn’t hang around this part of town. But when she goes for lunch, he’s sitting at a table, deep in conversation with a tall, striking brunette.

Her first instinct is to run, to get far away from him. It’s been four days since he kissed her, and she still doesn’t understand her reaction.

She had liked it.

That doesn’t mean anything, she has told herself a thousand times already. He’s a good kisser, that’s all. The way her heart had raced and the way her lips had tingled afterwards were natural physiological reactions to being kissed.

And obviously it had meant nothing to him, or why would he be sitting here on a date with another woman? That kiss was just another stunt in their ongoing war of attrition. A mere attempt to sabotage a potential hookup by confusing her.

Two can play at that game.

She marches over to the table. Gale jumps in surprise to find her standing in front of him. “Madge..”

“I just have to say one thing,” Madge says. “Your choice? It’s simple. Her, or me. And I’m sure she’s really great.” She glances at the woman, noticing for the first time that both she and Gale are in uniform. Madge falters but carries on, unable to hold back the tide of words. “Gale, I love you. In a really, really big, pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window, unfortunate way that makes me hate you, love you.”

Her voice cracks then and she realizes she’s shaking. “So pick me. Choose me. Love me.” A sob erupts from her throat. “Because I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her. You complete me.” Something tickles her face and she brushes it away, surprised to find her face wet. She can barely speak now. “You're my lobster.”

“Madge,” Gale’s voice is filled with emotion. He stands and reaches for her.

She backs away.

“Madge,” he says again.

  
She can’t bear it, so she turns on her heel and runs.

 

**EIGHT**

Madge doesn’t go back to work. Instead, she calls them, tells them she feels sick and goes home. She curls up on her couch under a blanket and cries. She can’t stop crying, and she doesn’t know why. She doesn’t know why she can’t stop. She doesn’t know why it feels like her heart is about to burst.

All she knows that she is definitely not in love with Gale Hawthorne.

That is absurd and ridiculous and stupid. He hates her and she hates him.

But she can’t stop crying.

Madge has no idea how long she’s on that couch before she hears the knock on her door. She ignores it at first. But it grows louder and more insistent. Whoever it is, they’re not going away.

So she throws back the blanket and shuffles barefooted to the door. She has cried so much and so hard, that her vision is blurry and it takes her a second to register that it’s Gale standing on the other side. She tries to shut the door in his face, but he’s quicker and stronger. He holds the door open and slips inside before she can stop him.

“We need to talk,” Gale says. He’s breathing heavily and Madge wonders if he ran the whole way here.

She shakes her head.Gale takes a step closer to her and she backs away, colliding with a side table and sending a lamp crashing to the floor. “Shit.”

Madge bends down to pick up the pieces but Gale stops her. “Careful. I’ve got it.” He gathers the largest pieces. “Have you got a dustpan?”

“Under the sink in the kitchen.”

Gale disposes of the largest shards and comes back with a brush to sweep up the smaller bits. “All clear.”

“Thanks,” Madge mutters.

She follows him back to the kitchen.

“Sorry about the lamp,” Gale says. He drums his fingers on the island countertop.

“That’s OK. What are you doing here?”

“Well, you said a lot of stuff today and I have some follow up questions.”

“That? That was nothing. I’m PMSing and I got a little too much into character. I’m sorry if it made things awkward with your date.”

Gale cocks his head curiously.

Madge laughs nervously. “I mean. The whole point was to make things awkward with your date, obviously. That’s what we do. She looks nice.”

“Lieutenant Jackson is my boss.” He shakes his head. “That’s not the issue… Madge was any of what you said true?”

Her heart slams into her throat. “No. Of course not. I ripped off Meredith Grey.”

Gale took a deep breath, then slowly makes his way around the island. Madge feels he would approach a wounded animal the same way. Part of her wants to run, but a larger part of her is frozen in place.

“When I kissed you, it was just to mess up things with that guy you were talking to. Instead, it felt like being struck by lightning. I couldn’t figure out why or what that meant. Until today, when I heard you say you love me. Because I’ve never wanted anything to to be true more than that.” He stepped closer to her, lifting his hand to cup her face. “I never needed anything to be true more than that.”

His thumb caresses her cheek gently. “I know you were quoting Friends or whatever, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be true.” His voice is low, husky, needy.

“It was true,” Madge whispers.

“OK then,” Gale says. He smiles at her. “This is an unexpected development.”

Madge laughs. “I know, I really thought we hated each other.” She curls his fingers in his shirt and pulls him closer. “Kiss me now, please.”

So he does.

It’s slow at first, a little tentative, as if he’s afraid this is a joke. But Madge winds her arms around him, and presses her body against his. She moans against his lip and it triggers something in Gale. He holds her tighter and his kisses become more fervent.

Then they’re stumbling towards her bedroom, clinging to each other, clothes are being pulled off and discarded wherever they land. They fall onto the mattress without ever breaking apart, exploring each others bodies with their hands and mouths.  
Gale presses her onto her back and kisses a trail down her body. Madge is fumbling blindly in a drawer for a condom where she hears the first knock. They pause for half a second then ignore it to resume kissing and groping.

But the knock comes again, louder and more insistent now. “Open up, police.”

They freeze in place. There’s another knock.

Madge scrambles out from under Gale and hastily pulls on some clothes before hurrying to answer the door.

There are two officer standing on the other side and behind them, her neighbor stands in the doorway to her apartment across the hall.

“Good evening miss,” the female officer says. “Is everything alright here?”

“Um, yes, great. Can I help you?”

“Your neighbor called us; she was concerned for your safety.”

Madge blinks slowly. “What?”

She feels Gale standing behind her, his hand resting on her back.

“Him, that’s him,” the neighbor shrieks.

The police officers hush her and turn back to Madge and Gale. “Your neighbor was concerned that she saw a suspicious person lurking in the hallway before forcing his way into your apartment.”

“And something smashed,” the neighbor chimes in.

“We knocked over a lamp,” Madge explains. “I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong. We were just…. Getting amorous.”

“Right.” The cops share smirks and the neighbor turns bright red.

The cops and the now red-faced neighbor apologize profusely. Madge assures them it’s fine, desperate to get rid of them so she and Gale can get back to what they were doing. Finally, they all leave and she shuts the door.

She slumps against the door and laughs. “I should probably let her know that I’m a screamer, just in case she hears anything and calls the cops again. I don’t want anymore interruptions.”

Gale lifts her into his arms and carries her back to the bedroom. “Now, where were we?”

**Author's Note:**

> Madge’s speech to Gale is taken directly or paraphrased from Grey's Anatomy, Notting Hill, Jerry Maguire, and Friends.


End file.
